Riding strapless is not harder than with straps. The only advantage of straps is they help you keep the board on it's side when waterstarting. Once you are up and going it does not make any difference ..

Yes, I'd definitely recommend straps for learning, but after you have mastered riding a foil, riding strapless is not difficult.. and it is a lot of fun.

the most surprising thing to me about riding waves on a foil is that the waves do not really need to be that big. The size is more because you do not want to hit the ocean floor than power. It can go in small swell...

Thats me yes! And now that I see myself, I better start excercising more! At least I stay within 600km of the coast now that I moved to Cape town so I will get a lot more excercise just by kiting. Amazing how many kiters come to Cape Town in our summer!

I started with strap yes. It makes the getting up out of the water part much easier. But you actually only need one strap for that. I sometimes put just a front strap on, especially when the waves are big and the wind is light. I have had days now that I know the wind is strong enough to go out, but the waves are just too big and I cannot get going before either hitting the shallow sand or getting dunked by a wave.

Regarding wave riding with a foil, I actually only ride the swell most of the time. In the breaking part, there is the danger of hitting the bottom as you say (if the waves are small), or just wiping out in a big wave with a big sharp strange object getting washed around with you. Then of course there is sometimes the problem that the waves are too steep, and I cannot stay on the board, keep my bottom part of the foil underwater and my board out of the water. There is just no space if the wave face is vertical. So riding swell is much safer and easier. And I actually feel more energy from the foil riding swell than I do from a wave when I am on a directional. Plus on swell you have a much longer "wave" to surf, and you can surf any part of it- you don't need a perfect running waves breaking from one side to the other to have a long ride. The whole wave can be breaking all at once and no one else can surf it, but since one can surf the swell on a hydrofoil it gives you so much more "surf" time.

I think the risk of injuries is definitely less strapless. Occasionally one has a weird wipeout when you are glad to be able to avoid the foil and no straps helps. And sometimes you hit kelp or litter and the foil stops instantly and then strapless helps. I do sometimes hit the bottom, but that is only when I know there is only sand, and I am going very, very slowly, so as soon as I hit the bottom I just jump off and no damage is done. The MHL is probably the best foil if you think that you might touch the sand since its lowest part is on the centre fuselage and not the wing.

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